Road scraper



Jan. 22, 1946. E. SLADECEK ROAD SCRAPER Filed Dec. 23,1943 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 m m E m 9 D L 5 QM and E. SLADECEK ROAD SCRAPER" Jab. 22, 1946.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 23, 1943 .Jan.22, 1946. ESLADECEK 2393345 ROAD SCRAPER' Filed Dec. 23, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 [b Sumac/5k Inventor Jan. 22, 1946. 3 E SL CEK 2,393,345

ROAD SCRAPER Filed Dec. 23, 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventor Patente d Jan. 22, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE R AD SG A E V Ed'Sladecek, Granger, Tex. Application December 23, 1943, SeriaINo. 515,414

4 Claims. rout-140) This invention relates to. road scrapers, and has more particular referencefito improvements in scrapers of the fresno .or buck type.

The primary objectof the present invention is to provide. a road scraper of the above type particularlydesigned to. be; hitched to and drawn by atractor, the means 'for hitching the scraper to the tractor embodying devices whereby the scoop in load transporting position or permitted to rotate to load-dumping position. I

.Another object of the invention is tov provide ascraper attachment for tractors of the above kind, which attachment. is comparatively simple in construction, durable, and eflicient in opera-' tion.

Other objects and features of the invention will becomeapparent from, the following description when considered in connection with the accomp nying, drawings, and the invention consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in .thedrawings and claimed. a

'In the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a road scraper constructed in accordance with the present invention, the scoop being in scraping position. 7

Figure 2'is a view'si-milar to Figure 1 showing the parts positioned as they appear subsequent to kicking the scoop from scraping to-load transporting position.

Figure3 is a top planview of the device as shown in Figure 2. r r

Figure 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3. s

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail view partly in longitudinal section and partly in side elevation, showing the forward end of the draft tongue of the scraper and the associated hitch lever for connecting the tongue to the draw bar of a tractor.

. Figure 6 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on the plane ofline li -6 of Figure 1. Figure 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the hitch lever.

, FigureS is an enlarged perspective View of the pivoted catch used to restrain the auxiliary lever against movement away from the main lever, to keep the scoop in scraping position.

Figure 9=isa perspective view of said auxiliary lever.

.Figure 10 is a section taken on line ill-4,0 of

Fi ure 5;. I

Figure 11, islan enlarged perspective view of one I of the; pivoted detentsv employed in connection with .stoplngs carried by thev scoop for limitin turning movement or said scoop to a desired one of its difierent positions. I

"Figure, 12 is a perspectiveview of the rock shaft on which said detents are mounted.

Figure .3 is, a fra mentary sectional View taken on line-l 3-13 oi Figure 2.. 7

Figure I4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the scraper showing the scoop in dumping position.

Figure 15 is an enlarged detailview, partly in elevation and partly in longitudinal section, the view showing the main and auxiliary levers together with associated parts. I I

li'igure 16 is an elevational view looking toward the right of Figure 15, and V Figure .17 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the stop'lug strips attached to the ends of the scoopl s Referring in detail to the drawings, the present'scraper-includes a relatively wide shallow scoop having flat end walls 5 that are of generally circular form,- but have straight bottom edge portions, as at 6, The end walls 5 are oonnected'by a curved back wall land a flat bottom wall 8 whose ends contact the straight edges 6 of the end walls 5 and whose forward free edge is sharpened'to provide a scraping edge, as at 9. It will thus be seen that the scoop is .open at the front and partiallyopen at the top, the .end walls being reinforced along their circular edge portions by curved runners 1.0.

The .scrap'er includes a draft tongue ll composed of two similarmembers rigidly connected in adjacent spaced relation and having diverging arms. 12 atth'eir rear-ends which terminate in rearwardly extending spaced parallel. rearend portions 13, infthe rear ends .of which are journaled stub shafts 14 carried by the end walls 5 of the scoop, centrally of the latter, It will thus be seen that the'scoop is journaled for free rotation about the central transverse axis so that it may turn to tilted scraping position, as shown in; Figure 1, to load-transporting position, as shown in Figures .2 and 4, with the flat bottom 8 parallel with the grouml surface, or to loaddumping position, as shown in Figure 14, "with the bottom 8 vertically disposed at the rear of tfhe scraper and the open side of the scoop lowermost.

The two members of the draft tongue II are bridged and rigidly connected near their forward ends by a plate l5, as shown by dotted lines in Figures 1 and 2, and more clearly shown in Figure 5. Pivoted between the forward ends of these tongue members and intermediate its ends is a hitch lever [6 whose pivot is indicated at IT, and the rear end portion of whose rearward arm is arranged to engage the under side of the bridge plate I5 when said hitch lever is disposed parallel the rear end of th tractor draw bar, a fragment' of which is shown at l9. Hitch lever lfi-has a rigid arm projectin upwardly from its intermediate portion, and the upper end of this arm is connected by a link 2| with a forwardly projecting arm 22 provided on the upper end portion of an auxiliary lever 23 pivoted intermediate its ends, as at 24, between the members of draft tongue H rearwardly of hitch lever l6. The lower arm of auxiliary lever 23 is connected by a link 25 with a pivoted detent 26 hinged to and depending from the draft tongue directly behind the hitch lever l6 and forwardly of auxiliary lever 23, said detent 26 having a notched lower end 2'! arranged to engage the rear arm of hitch lever l6 and hold it in the inclined tilted position of Figure 1, wherein the rear arm of said hitch lever I6 is swung to a position downwardly away from the bridge piece [5 of draft tongue |l. When the parts are in this position, it will be seen that the draft tongue II is depressed 'to a forwardly inclined position. Rearward swinging movement of auxiliary lever 23 is limited. by a stop lug 28 provided on draft tongue ll directly behind lever 23 above its pivot 24. A main lever 29 is also pivoted at its lower end upon the pivot 24 for movement independently of the auxiliary lever 23, and rearward swinging movement of main lever 24 is also limited :by the stop 28. However, main lever 29 carries a lateral projection 30 which engages the rear edge of the upper arm of auxiliary lever 23 so that forward swinging movement of main lever 29 will also cause forward swinging movement of the auxiliary lever 23. In order to prevent unintentional forward swinging movement of auxiliary lever 23, relative to. main lever 29, the latter lever is provided with a pivoted catch 3| arranged to engage over the upper end of auxiliary lever 23 and yieldingly whose forward ends are longitudinally slotted, as at 36. A transverse pin 31 is carried by the detent 26 and its ends project outwardly through the slots 36 where they are headed, as at 39. The heads 39 are movable in casings 40 attached to the outer sides of the members of link 25, and compression springs 4| are interposed between the heads 39 and the rear ends of the casings 46. This construction permits the detent 26 to yield rearwardly relative to the hitch lever l6 and relative to the link 25. Referring to Figure 13, the arm 22 of auxiliary lever 23' has an elongated slot 42, and the adjacent end of link 2| has an elongated slot 43, in which slots is disposed a transverse pin 44. A head on one end of pin 44 is disposed at the outer side of arm 22, and another head on the other end of pin 44 is movable in a casing 45 attached to the outer side of link- 2|. A compression spring 36 in casing 45 bears at one end against the last-named head of pin 44 and at its other end against the inner or forward end ofcasing 45. arm 22 and link 2| are pivotally connected, and the connection is yieldable longitudinally of link 2|. The purposes and manner of operation of the construction and devices just described will later become apparent.

maintained in engagement with the latter by a spring 32. Means is ,provided which is operable from the drivers seat of the tractor for releasing the catch 3| when desired, such means consisting of a lever 33 pivoted to the upper end of main lever 29 and having an arm connected by wire 34 with catch 3|, another arm of lever 33 being connected to a flexible member or rope 35 extended forwardly to a position within convenient reach of the driver of the tractor. In order to cushion shocks incident to operation of the devices just described as to construction,'yieldable connections are provided between the link 2| and arm 22 of auxiliary lever 23 and between link 25 and pivoted detent 26, as respectively shown in Figures 13 and 6. Referring to the latter figure, it will be seen that the link 25 consists of two similar spaced members between the forward ends of which the detent 26 extends,'and

Pivoted to one side of the draft tongue near its forward end is a further lever 41 which is connected by a rod 48 with an arm 49 projecting upwardly from the intermediate portion of a rock shaft 50 disposed transversely of and infront of the scoop and journaled at its ends in'bearings 5| provided on the rear arm portions l3 of the draft tongue. The arm 49 preferably has a polygonal opening at one end to receive a polygonal intermediate portion 52 of shaft 58. Shaft 58 also has polygonal portions 53 near its ends which are received in correspondingly-shaped openings provided in the intermediate portions of detent levers 54 arranged at opposite ends of the scoop. Springs 55 are associated with detent levers 54 so as to yieldingly tilt them in a direction to swing their rearward arms rearwardly and downwardly, which rearward and downward swinging movement is limited :by means of stop arms 56 carried by the detent levers 54 and arranged to engage the adjacent armportions |3 of the draft tongue. The rear arms of detent levers 54 have rearwardly projecting lugs 51 normally disposed in the path of stop lugs'58, a pair of which are carried at spaced points on each end of the scoop. As shown, each stop lug 58 is preferably in the form of an out-turned end of a strip of metal 59 attached to the adjacent end wall 5 of the scoop in a position radially of the latter. Several sets of openings 60 may be provided in the end walls 5 to permit adjustment of the stop lugs 58 to best or proper-position.

Assuming that the scoop is in load-transporting position with the bottom wall 8 flatly resting upon the road surface, and that theother parts are positioned as shown in Figures 2 and l, the hitch lever I6 will be disposed coextensive with draft tongue II, and a stop lug 58 of the scoop will engage a'detent lever 54 at each end of the scoop. Thus positioned, the scoop may be drawn forwardly for transporting its load, andturning of the scoop in an anti-clockwise direction from load-transporting to scraping position will be prevented by the engagement of stop lugs 58 with detent levers 54. However, the scoop may be allowed to turn in this direction whenever desired to dump the load by simply swinging-the lever 41 forwardly and releasing the detent levers 54 from the stop lugs 58. The scoop will then aaas'gsasz .3

turnto the dumping position of li igurel ,where.-: upon the lever: will-be releasectso as tczpermit: the" detent leverslilz' to engage th'elnext' set: of stop: lugs 58 and prevent'further turningijof the scoop. After the load has'. been 1dumped,,-detent levers'54 may be released again untilthe scoop returns; to the load transporting -position, of.-'=Figures 2 and 4 Should'itno'w bedeslred'toresume the scraping operation, main-i lever. 28:; may. be swungforwardly until catch 3| engages auxiliary lever 23. Lever 29 is then swung rearwardly by direct actuation of the same so as to correspondingly swing auxiliary lever 23. The latter operation will cause hitch lever Hi to swing to the inclined position of Figure 1 by reason of the connection 2| between arm 22 of lever 23 and arm 20 of hitch lever l6. At the same time, the detent 26 is caused to swing forwardly by reason of the connection 25 between said detent 26 and the lower arm of auxiliary lever 23. The arrangement is such that when the main lever 29 reaches its rearmost position, the hitch lever l6 will snap into the notched lower end of detent 26 so that the hitch lever I6 will be retained in its inclined position by said detent, 26. The entire operation is such as to cause the forward end of draft tongue H to be depressed, and this operation lowers the detent levers 54 and moves them away from the forward set of stop lugs 58 on the ends of the scoop. Upon forward travel of the scraper, contact of the scoop with the ground will cause it to turn until the stop lugs 58 again engage the detent levers 54. In this rotated position, the scoop will be tilted, or rather its bottom 8 will be tilted, to a forwardly inclined position, as shown in Figure 1, so that the sharp scraping edge 9 will engage the ground and bring about an effective scraping action. As soon as the scoop is full, a forward pull on rope 35 will effect release of catch 3| and will then start forward swinging movement of auxiliary lever 23 with the main lever 29. The resulting action is to release detent 26 and allow hitch lever l6 to swing to its normal position coextensive with draft tongue H, the rear arm of hitch lever I6 kicking upwardly against bridge plate l to assist in causing the scoop to be tilted from scraping position, as shown in Figure 1, to load-transporting position, as shown in Figure 2. The yieldable connections shown in Figures 6 and 13 are used to absorb any shock which will occur at this time,

thereby preventing breakage or damage to the interconnected parts and levers associated with the hitch lever IS. The load may again be transported and dumped, as previously described,

after which the apparatus is re-set for scraping tiomdueitoi .straighteningaof. theedraft ton ue and thahitchlever. a J I 2. A road scraper attachment for tractors, comprising a frame having a draft tongue, a scoop mounted in the frame, a hitch lever pivoted between its ends to the forward end of the draft tongue and having an upwardly projecting intermediate arm, an auxiliary lever pivoted between its ends to the draft tongue rearwardly of the hitch lever, a yieldable link connection between said arm and said auxiliary lever, a swinging detent carried by the tongue and engageable with the hitch lever to hold it in an inclined position with the forward end of the tongue depressed to permit the scoop to assume a tilted scraping position, a link connection between said auxiliary lever and said detent,- a main lever pivoted on an axis coincident with the pivotal axis of the auxiliary lever and engaged with the latter to move it forwardly, releasable means to hold the auxiliary lever against forward swinging movement relative to' the main lever, and means manually operable by a forward pull to release said last-named means and swing the main and auxiliary levers forwardly so as to release the detent from the hitch lever and thereby allow the latter to swing and kick the forwardend of the draft tongue upwardly for turning the scoop from scraping position to loadtransporting position.

3. In a road scraper, a frame having spaced arms and provided with a forwardly projecting draft tongue, an elongated scoop arranged transversely of and journaled in the frame for rotation about a central transverse axis, manually releasable means to prevent rotation of the scoop upon forward travel of the scraper when said scoop is in load-transporting, scraping or load-dumping position, said means including spaced sets of stop lugs on the ends of the scoop,

scraper is had which may be readily attached and movable to an inclined position to depress the forward end of the draft tongue and permit the scoop to assume a tilted scraping position,

and lever-operated detent levers coacting: with said stop lugs and mounted on the frame, a hitch lever pivoted between its ends to the forward end of the draft tongue and having an upwardly projecting intermediate arm, an auxiliary lever pivoted between its ends to the draft tongue rearwardly of the hitch lever, a yieldable link connection between said arm and said auxiliary le' ver, a swinging detent carried by the tongue and engageable with the hitch lever to hold it in an inclined position with the forward end of the, tongue depressed and the detent levers lowered to permit the scoop to turn from load-transporting to scraping position, a link connection between said auxiliary lever and said detent, a main lever pivoted on an axis coincident with the pivotal axis of the auxiliary lever and engaged with the latter to move it forwardly, releasable means to hold the auxiliary lever against for-' ward swinging movement relative to the main lever, and means manually operable by a forward pull to release asid last-named means and swing the main and auxiliary levers forwardly so as to release the detent from the hitch lever and allow the latter to swing and kick the forward end of the draft tongue upwardly for turning the scoop from scraping position to load-transporting position upon continued forward travel of the tractor. I

4. A road scraper adapted to be hitched to'and drawn bya tractor,.comprising a frame having a draft tongue, a scoop mounted inthe frame, a hitch lever piovted intermediate its ends to the forward end of the draft tongue and adapted for connection'with the tractor,-and manually operable means for releasably holding the hitch-lever in a tilted position with the forward end of the I 

